Orissa - Climate
The state has an equable climate, neither too hot nor too cold. The coastal areas of the state benefit by the sea breezes blowing from the Bay of Bengal. Most of the rainfall brings by the southwest monsoon (June to September), although some rainfall also comes to its account from northeast monsoon (October to November). The state is sometime victim of cyclonic storms. The entire territory lies in the tropical zone as a result of which high temperature is recorded particularly during April-May. However, the sea exercises a moderating influence over the climate of the coastal belt whereas the hill tracts experience an extreme climate.
Orissa, on the eastern sea board of India, enjoys a tropical monsoon type of climate like most other parts of the country. Its annual average rainfall is about 1500 mm. There are three major seasons viz. summer (March to June), monsoon (July to September) and winter (October to February). The annual cyclones from the Bay of Bengal influence it and bring copious rain with two seasonal peaks, July-August and October-November. Orissa is one of the few states in the country, which is endowed with abundant water It is blessed with excessive network of rivers and streams. Mahanadi and Subarnarekha are major rivers.
With a 480 km coast line that is prone to climate-mediated cyclones and coastal erosion and water resources dependent on monsoons, Orissa is relatively more vulnerable to climate change. Water-consuming rice is its main crop and therefore its agriculture is vulnerable to the vagaries of climate-induced weather changes. Though 38 percent of the state’s geographical area is recorded as forests, much of these forests are degraded. Vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria, are fairly rampant and climate change may make the prevalence of the disease even more widespread.
Indeed, climate change has the potential to derail the current growth strategy and deepen poverty in Orissa. Continuing climate variation is predicted to alter the sectoral growth, including the ability of the poor to engage in farm and nonfarm sector activities. The direct impacts of extreme climate-induced events could include loss of life, livelihoods, assets and infrastructure. All of these could affect the state’s economic growth and nullify the effectiveness of macro economic policies and pro poor initiatives.
The entire gram panchayat of Satabhaya, literally seven brothers, may soon become a thing of the past. It originally consisted of seven villages. Now, only Satabhaya and Kanhupur remain. Five others—Gobindapur, Mohanpur, Kharik ula, Chintamanipur and Badagahiramatha —have been devoured by the Bay of Bengal since a massive cyclone hit Odisha in 1971, killing over 1,000 people. “More than 600 houses and 2,400 hectares (ha) of agricultural land have gone under the sea in the past 48 years,” says Maguni Raut, revenue inspector of the region. Once boasting of lush paddy fields and coconut trees, the two surviving villages are now ghosts of their former selves where half-buried, decaying tree stumps greet the eye.
The first major instance of sea erosion occurred here some 30 years ago when the winter palace of Shivendra Narayan Bhan jadeo, scion of the royal family of Rajkanika, ended up in the sea. The 110-year-old Panchubarahi Upper Primary School in Satabhaya met the same fate in 2012, prompting the district authorities to build a thatched house as a substitute the next year. In 2015, that too, was washed away. This prompted the government to establish in 2016 the state’s first resettlement project for sea erosion-affected people in Bagapatia village, 12 km from Satabhaya.
Odisha has lost 153.8 km, or 28 per cent, of its coastline due to coastal erosion, shows a study by the National Centre for Coastal Research, released in July 2018. This has dealt a massive blow to the state government’s plan to promote beach tourism. The beaches at Satabhaya, Pentha, Agaranasi, Hukitola, Eakakula, Madali, Habalikothi and Puri are losing charm as tourist spots. Disappearing and shrinking beaches at several other coasts are causing loss of work for fishing communities.
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